Ribs and Chick’n in Scarborough

My first halal food experience was a pizza shop near Abu Bakr Mosque on Lawrence Avenue, many many years ago when I was just a kid. Since then, there have been many halal restaurants popping up in and around that particular neighbourhood. The latest to the Lawrence Avenue halal food family is new Ribs and Chick’n in Scarborough. The narrow eatery is firmly cushioned between two other halal joints: Zam Zam Pizza and City Fried Chicken. A little easy to miss if you’re not aware of its surroundings.

As you can probably guess from the name, they serve ribs and chicken. There is plenty of seating here, and nice big booths for large families and groups. It wasn’t too busy when we went on a Friday night, but after we were seated, more people came in. We ordered 2 lbs ribs with spicy barbecue sauce ($19.99), and a half chicken platter ($13.99). The ribs came with fries, and the half chicken came with two sides so we went with macaroni salad and spot fries. The spot sauce/seasoning is their own in-house seasoning and I’d say it’s almost spicy, and cajun-like.

You have to place your order at the counter then you’re meal is brought to you. You pay once you’re done. There is a gratuity fee charged, so just keep that in mind!

The short ribs were covered nicely in the spicy barbecue sauce, which came recommended to us by the staff on hand. I would have been happier had the ribs been meatier, but they still were savoury with a good dose of flavour.

The chicken was a rotisserie chicken doused in barbecue sauce – the flavour was on point, but the chicken was a bit cold. The macaroni salad and fries were good sides and paired well with our main dishes. When you order a whole chicken — it comes whole. There are no pieces cut for you. This could be an issue if you’re not used to cutting up your own whole chicken. Heck, even if you are — I’m not sure this is something people want to do!

All in all, we were content with our meal and would revisit. The restaurant just opened up a few weeks ago so it’s not unexpected to have a few kinks here and there. Excited to see them grow in the weeks to come, inshAllah!

Meat Source: All meat is sourced from Iqbal Halal Foods (HMA Certified Retailer). ** NOTE: meat was checked (verbal assurance) at time of review and can change at anytime – please check meat sources before eating and let us know if there are any discrepancies **

Hafsa is a cupcake-baking, fashion-loving, DIY-obsessed small town girl living in a big city. You can follow her adventures in her new lifestyle blog ‘Does This Make My Head Look Fat?” She has a background in public relations but now currently works in the digital agency world as a Social Media Coordinator for 88 Creative. Her guilty pleasures include traveling, eating macaroons and Instagramming her day-to-day excursions. Follow her adventures on Twitter.